Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

 ⁴⁴  So He kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.”  Luke 4:42-44.

We can get comfortable and not want to leave friends and familiar people and familiar surroundings.  But, we may need to leave them to fulfill our mission elsewhere.

Like Jesus, we may have people trying to prevent us from moving.  We can understand and even appreciate their feelings of attachment.  But, we must fulfill our mission.

God will make it clear to us what we should do.  He states:  “I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go;  I will counsel you with My eye upon you.”  Psalm 32:8. 

We may not know as quickly as we want to know.  We may need to pray for guidance.  We may even need to pray like persistent woman seeking justice from a judge in Luke 18:1-8.  “now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them?”  Luke 18:7. 

“But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.  But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.”  James 1:5-6. 

But, God’s guidance does not just come in words that we may strain to hear.

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”  Romans 8:28.  (Emphasis added.)

As Jesus was called to “preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.”, we too are sent for God’s purpose, and God will cause “all things to work together for good” for us too according to His purpose.

We should not only read Scripture and believe God’s promises.  We should also remember how God has guided us in the past and remember all that God has done for us.  It will strengthen our faith that God will continue to guide us and do great things for us according to His purpose.  Writing down such experiences will help us remember.  God instructed His people to do all kinds of things as “memorials” (Click here: BibleGateway.com – Keyword Search: memorial)  We can at least write down our experiences to not only help us remember but to help us also teach our young.

“Only fear the LORD and serve Him in truth with all your heart;  for consider what great things He has done for you.”  1 Samuel 12:24

 ³³  In the synagogue there was a man possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice,

 ³⁴  “Let us alone!  What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth?  Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are–the Holy One of God!”

 ³⁵  But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet and come out of him!”  And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst of the people, he came out of him without doing him any harm.

 ³⁶  And amazement came upon them all, and they began talking with one another saying, “What is this message?  For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits and they come out.”

 ³⁷  And the report about Him was spreading into every locality in the surrounding district.”  Luke 4:31-37  (Emphasis added.)

It is noteworthy that the miracle of Jesus did not elicit a primary reaction such as:  “What a nice thing Jesus did for this man!” nor even “What an amazing miracle!”.  The primary reaction is:  “What is this message?“

We also read earlier in this Scripture that “they were amazed at His teaching, for His message was with authority.”

So, what was Jesus’ message?  The full answer may be all of Jesus’ teachings.  The medium answer may be the Beattitudes or Sermon on the Mount that we will read a few chapters later.  The short answer may be what we read in Matthew 4:17:  “From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  A one word answer may be the “Gospel” as we read a few days ago in Luke 4:18.

So, what is our message?  What primary reaction does our profession or career or job (or even life) elicit?  

Do people primarily respond:  “What good service he gives!” or “He is really skillful at his job!” or “He is really nice!” ??? 

Or, do people primarily respond:  “There is something different about him.  What is his message?  He is a Christian, but I have not seen a Christian like him.  He has his share of difficulties, but he has such a great attitude.  He is so nice to others.  He likes to read the Bible and talk and write about God.  He talks about Reformed doctrine or Calvinism.  I remember something about tulip.  He is kind of salty, but he makes me thirsty.  I am going to keep my eye on him and find out more about his message.” ???

Yes, we should give good service.  Yes, we should be really skillful at our job.  Yes, we should be really nice.  Yes, it is good that people say such nice things about us.  But, our profession, our career, our job, and our whole life should elicit a primary focus in people on our message.  What is our message?    

Our message should be about God and His qualities and His works.  Our message should be good news of salvation which is the Gospel. 

We don’t need to be a preacher to give a message.  We can just tell others what God has done for us and what we heard about God.  We can point to where we are being fed and welcome them to join us. 

In conclusion, even as I write this, I feel tempted to focus on myself and feel ashamed that I should do so much more.  But then, I turn to God and focus on Him and trust Him and His promise to work within me to deliver that message:  “both to will and to work for His good pleasure”.  Philippians 2:13.

 ²⁵  “But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land;

 ²⁶  and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.

 ²⁷  “And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” 

 ²⁸  And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things;

 ²⁹  and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff.” 

 ³⁰  But passing through their midst, He went His way. Luke 4:23-30.  (Emphasis added.)

It was stated in yesterday’s Scripture after Jesus returned to Galilee:  “And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all.”  Luke 4:15.  (Emphasis added.) 

In today’s Scripture, which immediately follows yesterday’s Scripture, we read “And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things;  and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff.”  Luke 4:28-29.  (Emphasis added.) 

The change in reception is startling.    

We are reminded that people are fickle.  They change like the wind.  People are quick to curse after they bless.  “But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.  With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God;  from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing.  My brethren, these things ought not to be this way.”  James 3:8-10. 

But, their works are even worse than their words.  Immediately after we read in Romans 3:14:  “WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS”;  we read “THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD,”  Romans 3:15.

One would think that the hometown would rejoice to see one of their “sons” do well.  Whether the root of the reaction is jealousy or other evil emotion, man is so totally depraved that “no prophet is welcome in his hometown” and they will seek to run out of town, even kill, their own “sons”, their own prophet. 

The lesson is that we should not trust man.  “Thus says the LORD, “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind And makes flesh his strength, And whose heart turns away from the LORD.”  Jeremiah 17:5

Rather than trust man who changes, we should trust God who does not change.  “For I, the LORD, do not change;  therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.”  Malachi 3:6 

God, who has chosen us to save us before the foundation of the world, does not see our actions and get surprised and throw us away like a boy may throw away a toy that upsets him or does not amuse him anymore.  “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 1:6. 

^“For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;  and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”  Romans 8:29-30. 

Therefore, “Trust in the LORD forever, For in GOD the LORD, we have an everlasting Rock.”  Isaiah 26:4

 ⁷  “Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours.”

 ⁸  Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD AND SERVE HIM ONLY.'”  Luke 4:5-8

I want to focus on the fact that the devil used riches to tempt Jesus.  Scripture tells us:  “For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”  1 Timothy 6:10

This Scripture for today reminded me of Disney World.  I live in St. Petersburg, Florida close to Disney World in Orlando, Florida.  Yet, I would not want to own Disney World;  I could just visit it to enjoy it.  But even as close as it is, I have only visited it very few times.  My youngest son has not even been there.  The two points of this example is that we do not need to own things to enjoy them, and even then, we should not be obsessed with the thought of such things.   

“While recognizing  that all good gifts are from God, to help us contemplate the goodness of God, Calvin himself shunned the riches of this world.  He exhorted the flock:  “We are to be ready without regret to leave all that belongs to this world.”  God makes Christians, he wrote, as “birds upon the branch.” as quoted from Special Article titled “John Calvin as Church Reformer (2) by Professor Dykstra in the December 1, 2009 issue of The Standard Bearer linked here – Click here: http://www.rfpa.org/downloads/8605.pdf

I love that image.  We know that birds rest lightly on branches and are willing to leave the branch at any time for even the slightest reason.  In comparison, we know that those who love riches are too attached to the things of this world.  They think about them all the time.  They are unwilling to release their tight-fisted grip on them.  They are unwilling to do good, particularly when it means that they will need to leave their riches to do so.

A good summary of this point is in 1 Timothy 6:17 :  “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.” 

Both in this 1 Timothy 6:7 verse and the foregoing quote about Calvin, there are three points.  First, “God … richly supplies us with all things to enjoy”.  But, second, we should enjoy them like “birds upon the branch”.  Third, our hope should be fixed on God, and so, we should set on our minds on things above.       

In conclusion, using another bird analogy, Scripture also assures us and comforts us:  “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?”  Matthew 6:26

The tendency that I have when I read this Genealogy of Jesus and other Genealogies in Scripture is that I tend to skip or rush through them.  My eyes glaze over as I read mostly unfamiliar names and so many names.

So, I wonder why this Genealogy of Jesus is in Scripture. 

A first and perhaps the primary reason is stress that Jesus was truly man in addition to being truly God. 

Article 19 of The Belgic Confession concludes with this statement:  “Wherefore we confess, that he is very God, and very Man: very God by his power to conquer death; and very man that he might die for us according to the infirmity of his flesh.”

The Heidelberg Catechism puts it this way:                                                                                  

Question 15.  What sort of a mediator and deliverer then must we seek for?                                       

Answer.  For one who is very man, and perfectly righteous; and yet more powerful than all creatures; that is, one who is also very God.

^“For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:”  Romans 8:3. 

“Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,”  Hebrews 2:14 

A second reason is to confirm and remind us that Jesus is “the son of David”, of “the tribe of Judah”, and “the seed of Abraham” Whom fulfills the promises and prophecies of Scripture.

A third reason is to stress that Jesus is part of our family as well.  It is not a coincidence that this genealogy follows God’s statement in Luke 3:23:  “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”  If I was God, I would want an exclusive relationship with Jesus and all the glory of having such a Son.  I would think:  “Jesus is my Son, not your son.”  But, God immediately after such a statement, shares Jesus with man by pointing out the Genealogy of Jesus in great detail.

Jesus is our son.  In a same way that Adam rejoiced over his relationship with Eve:  “… “This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh;  She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.”  Genesis 2:23, we all can rejoice with our relationship to Jesus:  “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;  And the government will rest on His shoulders;  And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”  Isaiah 9:6

Jesus is also our brother.  “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;”  Romans 8:29.

Jesus is also our husband.  “And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.”  Revelation 21:2  “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.”  Ephesians 5:25-27. 

In conclusion, the Genealogy of Jesus reminds us of Jesus’ human nature which was necessary for Him to be our Savior.  The Genealogy of Jesus reminds us that Jesus is a fulfillment of promises and prophecies in Scripture.  The Genealogy of Jesus reminds us that He is part of our family, our “Redeemer kinsman”, a son of Boaz who was also a type of “Redeemer kinsman”.  The Genealogy of Jesus assures us of His love for us.  Like a mother who will never stop loving her son, no matter what he does, we can better believe that Jesus loves us, the elect, His family, His brothers, His bride, the church.

 ¹²  And some tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?”

 ¹³  And he said to them, “Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.”

 ¹⁴  Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, “And what about us, what shall we do?”  And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages.”  Luke 3:10-14  (Emphasis added.)

Let us be like the crowds and seek specific answers to how we can “bear fruits in keeping with repentance”.  Let us also ask:  “Then what shall we do?”

It is helpful to consider that two out of the three specific answers provided by John the Baptist could be summarized as justice with the remaining answer summarized as mercy.  “Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.” and “Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages.” are justice.  Sharing is mercy.

“He has told you, O man, what is good;  And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?”  Micah 6:8  (Emphasis added.)

Let us also consider what delights our LORD.  Let us consider what our LORD does.  “but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD.”  Jeremiah 9:24.  (Emphasis added.)  

So, here are two questions for us to consider every day.  First, we should ask “How can I do justice today?”.  Second, we should ask “How can I be merciful today?”. 

Concerning doing justice, as a business owner, we may ask:  “Do I provide good products and good services?” and “Do I charge justly for my products and services?” and “Do I pay my employees a good wage and treat them good?” and “Do I pay my employees and my suppliers as quickly as I can?” or “Do I take unfair advantage of my employees and suppliers and pay them as little as possible and make them wait for payment as long as I can?”  

Concerning justice, as an employee, we may ask:  “Do I follow my employer’s instructions?” and “Do I do good work for my employer?” or “Do I steal time or supplies?” 

Concerning mercy, we all may ask how we can best share.  Let us consider all of our resources that we can share.  We can share money.  We can share clothes and food.  We can share skills by helping someone.  We can share helpful ideas.  We can share a Scripture.  We can share a prayer by praying for someone else.  We can even share a smile and other encouragement and other comfort. 

In conclusion, we all need God to give us the will to do His will.  We all need God to work within us.  Let us read and remember verses such as the following verses.  “for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”  Philippians 2:13.  “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”  Ephesians 2:10.  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”  Galatians 5:22-23.  Through God’s grace and work within us, let us eagerly look for opportunities today to do justice and mercy.

 ⁹  “Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”  Luke 3:7-9.  (Emphasis added.)

Like the Jews of that day who were smug and careless claiming that they were children of Abraham (and thus saved and entitled to all privileges), there is the danger that we too can be smug and careless claiming that we are the elect (and thus saved and entitled to all privileges). 

We too need to humbly and sincerely repent.  We too need to “bear fruits in keeping with repentance”. 

At least the Jews of that day had some confirmable basis for their claim based on genealogy, we have no confirmable claim based on genealogy.  We can not confirm our status as elect by seeing our names written in the Book of Life. 

If anyone had reason to be smug and careless, based both on his genealogy and accomplishments, it was the Apostle Paul.  And yet, he concludes:  “Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.  Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do:  forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.  Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude;  and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you;  however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained.”  Philippians 3:12-16. 

The Heidelberg Catechism anticipates some objection or hesitancy to this need to “bear fruits in keeping with repentance” and reminds us that we still must do good works.

Question 86.  Since then we are delivered from our misery, merely of grace, through Christ, without any merit of ours, why must we still do good works?

Answer.  Because Christ, having redeemed and delivered us by his blood, also renews us by his Holy Spirit, after his own image; that so we may testify, by the whole of our conduct, our gratitude to God for his blessings, and that he may be praised by us; also, that every one may be assured in himself of his faith, by the fruits thereof; and that, by our godly conversation, others may be gained to Christ.

In summary to this point, we know that we should not be smug and careless.  We know that we should “bear fruits in keeping with repentance”.  We know that we should “press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus”.  We know that we should still do good works. 

Do we bear these fruits in keeping with repentance and do these good works according to our own will and our own ability to do them?

No!  We can trust God:  “for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”  Philippians 2:13.  “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”  Ephesians 2:10. 

God “quickens” us or regenerates us.  The Heidelberg Catechism both describes this “quickening” and the good works that proceed from it.

Question 90.  What is the quickening of the new man?

Answer.  It is a sincere joy of heart in God, through Christ, and with love and delight to live according to the will of God in all good works.

Question 91.   But what are good works?

Answer.   Only those which proceed from a true faith, are performed according to the law of God, and to his  glory;  and not such as are founded on our imaginations, or the institutions of men.